Montpelier shake-up removes Racine

Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, left, speaks during a meeting of the joint House and Senate committee charged with dealing with issues with the Department of Children and Families at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday.(Photo11: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS)Buy Photo

Doug Racine, head of the state's Agency of Human Services, received a call Monday, asking him to go to the governor's office in Montpelier and meet with Chief of Staff Liz Miller and Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding.

"They told me it was time for a change," Racine said. "I said, 'Who are you changing?' And they said me. I didn't really see it coming."

Gov. Peter Shumlin announced Tuesday morning that Racine had stepped down from the state's largest agency, which oversees a wide range of services, including two areas that have been laden with high-profile troubles in recent months: the new health insurance exchange and the Department for Children and Families' child protection services.

"These decisions are difficult, but the governor felt a change in leadership at AHS was needed at this time," Shumlin spokesman Sue Allen said.

Racine has been replaced on an interim basis through the end of the year by Health Commissioner Harry Chen, a medical doctor and former state legislator who, like Racine, has worked for Shumlin since he took office in 2011. Deputy Health Commissioner Tracy Dolan will lead that department, which is within the Agency of Human Services.

Racine, in a phone interview from his Richmond home Tuesday, said when Miller and Spaulding delivered the news, they mentioned nothing about the technical troubles that have plagued Vermont Health Connect or the issues surrounding the deaths of two young children whose parents have been under state investigation.

"It was about style," said Racine, whose own style tends to be understated. "They wanted somebody who had more of an outward-focused style ... somebody who would be more of an ambassador."

Former rivals

Four years ago, Racine and Shumlin were political rivals, both vying for the Democratic nomination for the open governor's seat. Shumlin won by 197 votes, so close that Racine asked for a recount. When Shumlin went on to win the general election, he appointed Racine to run the Agency of Human Services, a job that this year pays $124,000.

Shumlin also hired two other rivals from the five-way primary who remain. Deb Markowitz is secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources and Susan Bartlett is special projects coordinator in the Agency of Human Services.

Racine said Shumlin was absent from the meeting where Racine was fired. The governor called Racine later Monday, and they spoke briefly and cordially.

Shumlin, in a statement, noted several strengths of Racine's tenure, including revamping the state's mental-health system following the closure of the Vermont State Hospital after Tropical Storm Irene.

"I appreciate Doug's hard work over three and a half years to help Vermont's most vulnerable," Shumlin said.

The problems facing the Agency of Human Services had led some to wonder whether Shumlin would change personnel, though the governor had shown during his three-plus years a tendency to stick with his staff.

Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said Tuesday he would have preferred changes be made sooner, before the Legislature adjourned in May.

"It would have been reassuring to have an AHS interim secretary named sooner in order to give that person time to work with staff and legislators. Having said that, I pledge to assist Secretary Chen in any way I can to streamline further transitions and minimize disruptions moving forward," Scott said.

In the past year, massive technical difficulties have plagued the roll-out of Vermont Health Connect, the state's health insurance exchange that launched in October. The Department for Children and Families has come under fire following the deaths of two young children, Dezirae Sheldon of Poultney and Peighton Geraw of Winooski, whose parents had been under the department's investigation.

Earlier this year, in response to the children's deaths, Shumlin replaced the head of the Department for Children and Families' Rutland office and directed Racine to reorganize the department. The results are due in October, but Racine said changes already are in place to improve communication.

Shumlin also ordered the hiring of 27 new staff members in response to complaints that caseworkers were overworked. Those positions were spared in budget cut proposals Shumlin unveiled Monday.

A group called Justice for Dezirae asked in June for Racine and DCF Commissioner David Yacavone to be fired, but Shumlin defended them, saying at the time, "I think our leadership is trying to do the best they can under very difficult circumstances. There's always going to be people to blame when things go wrong."

Racine said the past few months have been difficult, but "I didn't get the sense my job was in jeopardy. I'm disappointed."

In a comment Tuesday, Justice for Dezirae cheered Racine's departure and repeated the call for Yacavone's resignation. "Today is a great day for Vermont's children," the group said. "Our hearts are still heavy with the loss of Dezirae and the other children that have been murdered however."

Even so, some who've followed the issue said they were surprised at Racine's departure and unsure it would help. Several spoke highly of Racine's career in human services.

"I was quite surprised and shocked. I have always had the utmost respect for Doug," said Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, who serves on a special legislative committee looking at the child protection issue. "I'm not sure it does anything to put us in a better place."

"If I believed it would fix the problems, I would have called for somebody's head the next day. I don't think it's Doug's fault or any individual's fault," said House Health Care Committee Chairman Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln.

Fisher has followed the Vermont Health Connect problems as chairman of the House committee and followed the child protection issues as a social worker in Addison County. He said Racine always has listened and been responsive but wary of simplistic solutions to complicated problems, including when to remove children from families.

"It's a tremendous decision to remove a child from a family," Fisher said. "It should not be taken lightly."

Christopher Curtis, a Legal Aid lawyer who helps families access services, said, "Doug Racine is somebody who's spent his entire professional life helping children and families in Vermont."

Curtis, as a member of the state's Pathways from Poverty Council, is working to make sure the state takes public input before enacting changes to the Department for Children and Families. He said Racine has been responsive, as he has been for the past three and a half years. Early in the Shumlin administration, Curtis said, Racine and Yacavone were effective in turning around delays in access to benefits.

What next?

Racine said that while he was involved with the health-insurance exchange, that work largely has been overseen directly by the Governor's Office, and he didn't sense he was being blamed for problems there.

"They're not placing that one at my feet," Racine said.

Racine, 61, a former lieutenant governor and state senator who has long listed children and family issues as his priority, said he was proud of the work his agency has done to increase early childhood education and substance-abuse treatment and to fix problems related to adult abuse complaints and food stamps.

"There's a lot of successes I feel very good about," he said.

Racine said Tuesday felt like the day after an election. He was unsure what he might do next, but he had a lot of phone calls to return.